Crane Wishes
Join in A Crane origami Extravaganza. To make a wish for 2017.
Sunday 4th December 3.30 p.m til 5.00 p.m
Free, all ages welcome
We are collectively trying to make 1000 cranes across schools and communities. According to Japanese tradition folders will be granted a wish. Happiness, health and long life.
The cranes made will be installed in St. Mary’s church.
Projections of Crane Wishes on December 22nd 6pm till 10 pm.
Some children from Greenleaf primary school, children and adults at Church Hill Nursery and
You can aim to make as many cranes as possible in the spirit of
Senbazuru. Come to the workshop at St.Mary's or donate your cranes in the spirit of making a wish for Walthamstow.
Senbazuru:
One Thousand Cranes
a group of 1000 origami cranes that are folded
to wish someone good luck, long life, recovery from illness. A universal symbol of peace.
History and cultural significance
Japanese beliefs promise anyone who folds a thousand origami
cranes a wish by the Gods. This may be eternal good luck, long and healthy life, recovery from illness or
injury.
The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures
and is said to live for a thousand years.
A thousand paper cranes are traditionally given as a
wedding gift by the father, who is wishing a thousand years of happiness and
prosperity upon the couple. They can also be given to a new baby for long life
and good luck. Hanging them in one's home is thought to be a powerfully lucky
and benevolent charm.
Several temples in Japan have eternal flames for world
peace. At these temples, school groups or individuals often donate senbazuru to
add to the prayer for peace. The cranes are left exposed to the elements,
slowly dissolving and becoming tattered as the wish is released.
Popularisation of the Senbazuru
Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who at 24 months old,
was exposed to the fallout from the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima during WWII.
Sasaki
developed leukaemia soon after.
At age 12 after spending a significant amount
of time in a hospital, she began making origami cranes with the goal of making
one thousand, inspired by the senbazuru legend. There are differing versions of
her story – one version is that although she did complete the 1,000 cranes she
continued folding past that when her wish did not come true. Another version of
the story state that Sadako never completed the 1000 and that friends and
family folded more.
There is a statue of
Sadako holding a crane in Hiroshima Peace Park, and every year on Obon Day
(festival for ancestors/deceased), people leave cranes at the statue in memory
of the departed spirits of their ancestors.
 |
| The statue of Sadako Sasaki on top of the Children's Peace Memorial |
If you'd like to make a crane here's the instructions.
ADVENT "US"
Local artists, school groups and community
organizations representing people of a variety of faiths and backgrounds
(including those who have no faith associations), will create images
(photographs, paintings, drawings and more) which will reflect on this
universal longing for peace and justice and a better future, and will be
projected onto the church - one per day until Christmas Day.
While a wide variety of images will be
featured in order to reflect the ‘US’ in ‘ADVENTUS’, there will be the
recurring theme of people who have had to leave home due to war or violence: a stark
example of human hopes for a better future.
Each day’s projection will also feature a
person, object, event, recording, piece of music, or simple reflection inside
the church (similar to opening the door on an Advent Calendar) at an appointed
time each evening, as the door to the church will be opened for 1-2 hours,
inviting people in to the building to engage more deeply with the exterior ‘calendar’
image for that day.
This project mirrors the overall aims of the
St Mary’s Arts Collective (stmarysartscollective.org), which is to open up St
Mary’s Church for arts-related uses, to celebrate E17’s diversity, to foster
community creativity and form new friendships, to create curiosity and wonder, and
to challenge stereotypes.
